Page 124 of Carnal: The Beast Who Loved Me

With each passing moment, the image of Carnal’s impending death grew stronger and more vivid in her mind until that was all she could see.

That was when it came to her like a gift from the gods. What Carnal had wanted more than anything in life was to see his brother freed. She couldn’t save him from death, but she could give him that.

With demon speed she ran through the settlement searching, praying to all the ancestors who were available to hear, to help her find Crave before it was too late. As if in answer she felt drawn to a squat building. It was dark inside. So she wished the walls away. Crave was being held in a pit. He was filthy and bloody. Worse, he looked crazed.

She moved him to the surface magically. “Your brother is not going to see you like this,” she told him as she instantly rendered him freshly bathed and in clean clothes. “When you see him, try to not look so crazy.”

Seconds before the knife pushed through the stand of hay, Rosie put Crave directly in front of Carnal, so that the last thing he would see was his younger brother, alive and free.

“Crave.” The emotion in Carnal’s voice broke Rosie’s heart all over again. He reached out to touch Crave just as the long knife pierced through his heart. Crave looked down at the tip protruding from Carnal’s chest and saw the blood begin to seep around the wound.

Rosie’s hand flew to her mouth and shook against her face as she lived the worst moment of her life for a second time and, by the gods, it was even worse because of the second day of memories she’d collected.

The light left Carnal’s eyes before he crumpled at Crave’s feet. Rosie didn’t wait to see that. Or to see Serene’s reaction when she realized that her valiant oldest son, so full of life, depth, and potential, had been traded for another.

She simply turned and walked blindly into the swirling mist of the passes, wondering why her soul didn’t take flight, leave her body, and chase after Carnal.

~~